Avo

Avo is the capital city of Avalot, founded by the great king Farkarn Dacre during a time of victory. Avo is a city of power and glory, where just about anything and everything can happen or be found. Located at the edge of the Verdant Sea, it is a harbor city where ships from all over the world may dock. While the nobles live a fortuitous life in the hightown, many of the commoners struggle to make a living in the dark parts of the capital. All who visit Avo are warned to tred carefully and dutifully reminded to visit the many taverns in the city.

The heraldry of Avo is an Eagle, like that of Avalot.

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After the end of a long and brutal war, the crowned King of Avalot, Farkarn Dacre had parted his people from his allies, the Landsmen, in an effort to establish more stability in the providence of Avalot. Borrowing money from the nobles who had supported the war against the Reach, Farkarn set out to create for them a symbol of their victory over their western brothers and a welcoming beacon of peace to their allies. Basing the design on the ancient city of Oldengarde, the construction of Avo was undertaken for 10 long years and was not finished until the Reach had fallen into internal chaos during the Brother's War in 174 AU.

Since its foundation, Avo became a place where most nobles could convene and meet on neutral terms, as Farkarn demanded it to be a place of peace. Over the course of its long history, Avo never saw a siege nor an invasion. All barbarian invasions had fallen short in the Baltic Hills, and even as hostility during the Treeblood War increased never once was Avo a place of battle.

The only time Avo ever saw war was in 659 AU, during the Eighth Barbarian Invasion when Hysaph Jaric managed to outmaneuver his horde around General Gunter Newgate's army in the Baltic Hills. Here, the ancient walls of Avo still proved strong as it withstood constant bombardment from siege weapons for a whole week until General Newgate managed to destroy them from behind. There the Westward invasion force remained for several months until the combined counterattack of Avalotian, Sandpeople, and Quals allowed a force to get within the city to properly defend it. With rifle-armed soldiers guarding the walls of Avo, Hysaph Jaric was forced to negotiate a truce which still lasts into the modern day.

In modern times, Avo remains as the capital of an alliance between Avalot, Farqual, and the Sand Federation. It is also the focal point of resistance against the warmongering Pinelands. to the southeast, with the danger of invasion being so close to their enemy.

Avo is unique in its design simply because it was the first three-tiered modern city. It followed the design layout of Oldengarde by placing the parts of the city on increasing tiers, with the most important districts being on the highest levels. Unlike Oldegarde, the lowest district of Avo, dubbed the Pit, is literally beneath the top tier of the city. This creates a very visual metaphor for the sometimes oppressive nature of the Avo, with sewer dropping on the people below from the ceiling.

The only part of the city with an entire ceiling above it, the Pit gets it's name for being a dark and smelly area of Avo. Generally speaking, only the poor people live in this area, forced to make their homes in decrepit buildings. There are said to be rats the size of dogs here. It doesn't help that this area of the city has the harbor, which mixes in with the awful stench of garbage. Until Marty the Mute reformed the city in 656 AU, there were no light fixtures , meaning the Pit was kept in complete darkness even during the day.

The Gutter is the lowest part of the Pit, and thus suffered the most over the centuries to poverty and crime. As a result, the only fortress in the Pit was founded in the area to help police the commoners. Here the Black Market has also been known to set up shop, peddling illegal exotic wares from Cheng and beyond. During Emperor Narvineous' reign of the city in 655 AU, he set fire to the entire Gutter by pouring oil down the sewage. This fire claimed thousands of lives with only a handful of survivors escaping thanks to the timely aid of Lance Wymund. The Gutter has since been on a steady road to recovery, with extreme renovations cleaning up the many abandoned and burnt houses.

By foot, its is the Market District which travelers will first path through during their journey to Avo. This area is home to many of the middle class members of society and is the most populated tier of the city given its location and purpose. Blacksmiths, tailors, and other artisans of trade can be found here selling their goods. This is also the location of many city-wide events and festivals.

At the very top of the city tiers lies where the nobles gather. The district has many homes for ambassadors, visiting rich merchants, and members of the Court of Nobles. Few people actually live in this part of Avo, and instead they mostly use the houses here as "home bases" while they handle business within the city. There are plenty of hotels and mansions here, suited for these royal guests, as well as a few tourist attractions like the tavern.

Old Castle Dacre

The most notable sight in the district is also the highest point in the whole city, Castle Dacre. The castle has a very modern architecture about it, unlike the rest of the city, because it was established in 548 AU after the Treeblood War began to escalate. It was the hope of the nobles of Avalot to use the palace as a place of neutral negotiations between the warring parties. While the initial purpose was not met during the conflict, eventually Castle Dacre became the official home of the Court of Nobles. The Castle was thus named to honor the fallen family, who had suffered many causalities from Pale Reach assassins. Besides a courtroom, the palace had many rooms for visiting nobles in the Court, as well as a barracks complete with an arena for the castle guards.

In 655 AU, Lance Wymund detonated several gunpowder kegs to completely level the main parts of Castle Dacre. Reconstruction began with the Court of Nobles funding the project, though the result was a much more modest estate as per Mary the Mute's request. Construction continued on for about ten years, even during the Eighth Barbarian Invasion. The current version stands as the headquarters of the current Court of Nobles, now dubbed the Avalot Alliance.